Last week, my daughter Lucy ran a pancake stand to raise money for Kindermusik. (Full recap here.) Although it caught one couple expecting to score some lemonade a bit off guard, everyone hailed it as a great idea and wonderful success. And it was, for many reasons, not the least of which were all the lessons Lucy learned in the process. But another unexpected benefit was the opportunity to get to know many of our neighbors better, as well as meeting some for the first time. Although I am always wary of waxing on about how much better the olden days were (I’m not that old yet!), it sure …
Create & Do
How to Host Your Very Own Escape Adulthood Party
Once upon a time, there was a friendly, kind, and generous woman named Joan. She attended an Escape Adulthood Summit in Madison and wanted to bring back some of the magic she experienced to a group of her friends. So she hosted the first ever Escape Adulthood Party. And a great time was had by all. Joan didn’t ask for permission. She didn’t have an advanced degree in party planning. She just did it. And Kim and I were just tickled pink about it. We have always thought this fight against Adultitis was bigger than us, and we are delighted whenever our suspicions are proven right. The …
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Undercover Alias: Why You Might Want a New Name
Whenever I get a coffee at Starbucks, and they ask me for my name, I always tell them "Jason." While this is completely honest, it's also completely devoid of fun. The next time you buy a coffee or put your name in at a restaurant, use a fake name as your alias. It could be a normal sounding name, the name of a fictional character, or something completely unusual like Cantaloupe or Melmac. Just make sure it’s fake! Of course, you can do this with friends, too. At a conference I was speaking at recently (howdy OAEYC peeps!), two female attendees decided to make the random names that …
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10 Non-Evil But Still Excellent April Fools Pranks
We recently hosted a live hangout on Facebook to celebrate the end of winter. It was a fun and frantic online hangout filled with laughter and lively discussion. We invited the partygoers to share their favorite April Fools Day prank. Here are some of the best: My husband moved all of the clocks ahead 5 hours when I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up thinking that to had to get up for work in 45 minutes when it was really only 2:30 in the morning! (Lisa Toli) Mashed potato ice cream cones. (via Sarah Jenkins) At work, put the phone in the ceiling tiles. Or tape down the phone receiver. …
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How to Make Spring Cleaning Way More Fun
Last week we hosted a live party over on Facebook to celebrate the end of winter. (Winter exacted her revenge by dumping several inches of snow on us a few days later, which obviously proves that Winter has Adultitis.) Anyway, it was a fun and frantic online hangout filled with laughter and lively discussion. One of the topics that came up was spring cleaning. Namely, how to make it more FUN. (Is it even possible?) You could try what my two-year-old son Ben did last year, which was to just throw everything out the window. Or you could try some of these gems, shared by some fellow Escape …
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Meet Marty, Mini Adultitis Fighter
One of the best ways to defeat Adultitis is to set booby traps for it. An Adultitis Booby Trap is a simple item or routine you incorporate into your life for the purpose of serindipitously reminding yourself to smile, laugh, or take yourself lightly, particularly when Adultitis levels are at their highest. Our favorite Adultitis Booby Trap involves a tiny penguin eraser called Marty. For many years, we used Gumby's friend Pokey until we stumbled upon Marty, who reminded us of the hero on the cover of my book), and has since become a champion of dreaming big, ignoring common knowledge, and not …
The Penny Date
When you have a map to anywhere and GPS in your pocket, it’s really hard to get lost. I think that’s too bad, because sometimes getting lost can lead to great adventures. Someone shared the idea of a “Penny Date” with me, and I wanted to pass it along. The first rule is to get dressed to out and grab a penny. Get in the car and let your partner choose a number between 10 and 20. This will be the number of times you flip the penny. Pull out of the driveway and begin your adventure. Heads is right, Tails is left. Every time you come to an intersection, flip the penny and turn the …
The Perfect Gift is Not For Sale
What do you get for the person that has everything? What's an equally great gift for the person who has next to nothing? Easy. How about the gift of time? Last Christmas, an acquaintance of ours gave her children a piece of paper emblazoned with the words, "The Gift of Time." Each kid got to pick an activity to do with just Mom and Dad. For example, one of the girls elected to go to a theatrical production of RENT. I guarantee those memories made will last longer than some gadget that could have been gifted instead, destined to be sold at a garage sale sometime down the line. …
Thou Shalt Not Have Fun in Elevators
Willy Wonka’s glass elevator was an Adultitis Antidote. How many elevators can you say that about? With all due respect to Aerosmith, elevators are not usually bastions of fun. They are awkward little boxes in which everyone stares blankly at the floor numbers, tightens the sphincter, and puts on their best grown-up face while staring straight ahead. It's the equivalent of entering a walk-in closet with random strangers and closing the door. But taking a page out of Mr. Wonka’s book is not that hard. My friend Dan plays a game called Elevator Fight Club with his kids. When they are in …
Small Rebellion #9: Pay It Backward
Imagine placing an order at a drive-thru restaurant. (And yes, you definitely want fries with that.) You pull up to the window and begin digging out some cash only to learn from the store employee that the person ahead of you already paid for your meal. Wouldn’t that make you feel amazing? If you were having a bad day up until that point, what are the odds that your mood changes? This concept is known as “paying it backward.” It’s similar to “paying it forward,” which is the expression for describing when the beneficiary of a good deed repays it to someone else instead of the original …